The Eyes Have It - India 2016
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning....." Webster’s dictionary defines genesis as "the origin or coming into being of something" We could not imagine that through our attendance at the November 2015 Global Health Mission Conference in Louisville KY the Lord would plant it in our hearts the genesis of a new ministry. While at the conference we were introduced to the possibility of a vision ministry through a "chance" exposure to Kendall Optometry Ministry (KOM). We could almost immediately see the potential for future ministry but was it possible that the Bengal medical mission trip in just two months time could incorporate vision care as well?
Incredibly, the Lord cleared the way for us to attend the only training session prior to the mission trip through the provision of finances and clearing the calendar at Karen's workplace. Just two weeks later we returned to Louisville for training with KOM in the use of a state of the art auto refractor as well as basic vision screening.
Following the training and in consultation with Global's Vice President of Personnel it was decided that we would bring vision screening to the medical mission outreach to Bengal. The decisions concerning acquiring the inventory of glasses was taken out of our hands and so we concentrated on learning the details of the computer program, ordering readers, children's sunglasses and pinhole glasses as encouraged through our training.
In addition to and in preparation for our participation on the Bengal team an itinerary was set which included stops at three existing ministries in India. Clinics at each of these locations would provide excellent first hand training using the auto refractor as well as experience in running efficient vision clinics on the ground. It would also be an excellent opportunity to explore future ministry ideas in these areas including, vision, medical and public health. This was an ambitious project with many practical challenges not the least of which was a leave for Karen from her full time job, finances, visas ...... and all this was being coordinated over the Christmas season. The Lord HAD to provide. It wasn't without hiccough but He did! A leave was granted, Visas were issued, shots were completed, equipment was procured and readers and other supplies were stockpiled.
Inspired by our training and planning for the outreach in India, the vision ministry potential continued to expand in our minds beyond just the upcoming mission trip to include other Global Outreach Mission (GOM) locations in India, Sierra Leone and beyond. What initially appeared to be an impetuous and crazy notion began to take shape in both of our hearts and minds as we prayerfully started to consider what God might be calling us to.
Hyderabad
On January 17th, following an uneventful flight from Toronto, we arrived in Hyderabad via Abu Dhabi. We were met at the airport by Satish and Raj old friends of " Don - Sir" and instantly new friends of "Karen - Madam".
Karen's first introduction to an Indian hotel was, shall we say, dubious? Despite the clanging noise outside our window and the overwhelming stench of mothballs, we squashed the sluggish roaches and crawled into bed. Fatigue won and we survived. The following day we met briefly with our contacts at King's college a GOM ministry to plan out the first vision clinics.
Following a warm welcome which included banners and honour garlands, our first clinic was held at King's college for staff and students. We learned the practical steps in setting up a clinic and a great deal about how much what we didn't yet know.
Clinic number 2 was held just outside Hyderabad at a small rural church. Applying lessons from the day before,the clinic and equipment set up was somewhat smoother. A typical clinic included: Registration, distance vision check, near vision check, auto refraction and readers distribution. We learned that every station required a dedicated and focused translator. The number of individuals afflicted with beginning to advanced cataracts was shocking. We lamented that we had not brought adult sunglasses to provide protection from the damaging rays of the Indian sun and were also sad that the pinhole glasses which had been ordered had not arrived in time for our trip. However, many were helped with reading glasses. It was our introduction to the possible impact of a vision ministry.
A lunch prepared by the church ladies left us laughing as we watched the steam shoot from the ears of the King's college staff (ours had been a less spicy offering). After the fire extinguishers had been put away, we packed up and drove 15 minutes to a second church based clinic. This came as a complete surprise to both of us perhaps being lost somewhere in translation. When we arrived, many were waiting and it became difficult to work as people crushed through the doors looking for some type of help. We learned that careful policing was imperative for the successful running of a clinic. Older people, blinded by advanced cataracts struggling with many other physical challenges wanted a miracle. They sat helpless and hopeless in front of us desperate for a different response that we were ill equipped to give. We returned exhausted to the hotel for dinner at about 9 PM.
Madhira
Our train to Madhira left at 7 AM so we needed to be on the road before 6 AM . Carrying 7 large bags with glasses and equipment, we were immensely grateful for the help of a crew from King's College who came to help us load it all for the 5 hour journey. The trip was a blur punctuated by a chorus of "coffee, chai tea, samosa". We were on high alert, concerned about the bags of valuable equipment and wondering how, on earth, we were going to disembark when the train stopped for the requisite 30 seconds!!! Thankfully, God provided a willing and helpful Catholic gentleman who assisted us in removing the bags from the train. We were hardly off the train before we were identified by Regina and her helper - not too difficult to find two Rice Krispies in a pepper shaker! We were warmly welcomed into the home of Sudheer and Regina missionaries with Global. What a blessing to discover that Hazel. another a "retired" Global missionary was also staying at their home. Throughout our time in Madhira we had the privilege of getting to know this gentle, godly woman.
Following an hour drive, the next afternoon we arrived at a local Primary School for a clinic for school students and their teachers. While Don set up the clinic, Karen was tasked to give an impromptu talk to the students about some public health issues. The focus (no pun intended) was on hand washing and basic eye care - information that would hopefully outlast our visit. By this time we had had enough experience to know that we could see, at maximum, 12 and 15 people an hour. The numbers at the school far exceeded what we knew we could do and so we prioritized those with difficulties and students who would be graduating. We worked until sundown and left exhausted, dusty and fulfilled.
Driving back and looking forward to a good meal, Don was informed that he was speaking at the church service the following morning! We didn't get the memo! What's the old saying? A believer needs to be ready to "preach, pray or die at a moment's notice".
The worship service was packed with lowest caste, Dalit believers. We were humbled as they sat cross legged on the floor for hours and gave a bowl of uncooked rice as an offering to the Lord. What has gone wrong with the church in North America?
A vision clinic was planned at the church in the afternoon. We quickly trained a group of willing volunteers to work with us. Under the direction of Regina and Sudheer, and with the help of Hazel, the team worked without stopping from 2:30 until close to 11 PM. We learned that a "no cell phone" policy among helpers and translators was important to the smooth running of a clinic. Again, despite our best efforts, we could only assess between 12 and 15 people per hour if the job was to be done with excellence.
There were several highlights from this clinic. One of the civic leaders attended and was helped by a pair of readers. This is just the type of contact that was needed to raise the profile and credibility of the local church and build connections that can be used to spread the gospel. Another was a 17 year old translator who requested to have his eyes checked. Don used the autorefractor to test his eyes and this indicated that he could be helped by readers. He was sent over to Karen who assessed his near vision which confirmed this finding and he was given a pair of readers. This young man had been suffering from headaches especially when studying but he did not even realize that he did not see clearly close up.
The following morning we were preparing for our overnight train to Nagpur when Sudheer approached us to join him at a funeral luncheon for a local Dalit man. It was an unparallelled opportunity to observe and learn some of the local customs. For example, family members of the deceased shave their heads and wear new clothes as an act of respect. Disposable plates are sprinkled with water and cleaned with the hand before food is placed on them and consumed with the fingers. This definitely stretched to seams of a Public Health Nurse. We clung to the promise of Psalm 91 "No pestilence shall come nigh thy dwelling". We were struck by the overwhelming community and family support as well as their capacity to embrace complete strangers at such a vulnerable time. What an honour to have been included.
When we returned to complete our preparations, it was arranged that we would assess the vision of 10-12 of the volunteers that we had not been able to accommodate the evening before. Working feverishly, we looked at each other with exhaustion and panic as client number 39 popped up on the computer!
Fatigued and frazzled we gulped down a light dinner and loaded all of our baggage on to the roof of a compact car and began the journey to the train station. Unbeknownst to us the ticket from Madhira was actually from a town several hours away! Travelling the back roads in India after dark is dodgy and dangerous at the best of times. Now mix in a generous helping of panic as we watched the sand pass through the hourglass at alarming speed and one could use a prescription for Ativan and antacid! We inched our way through stalled traffic - a crush of buses, bikes, scooters and pedestrians until the train station came into view. Luggage was unloaded and transported on the heads of Indian Coolies at break neck speed (no pun intended!). Winded and sweating we located our platform after a maze of stairs and crosswalks. No train! In classic "Don" form he quipped that God had given the train a flat tire to stall it until we arrived!
The following 11 plus hours were some of the most challenging of the trip for Karen. Frantically loading all our gear on to the train, we realized as it left the station that we were literally stuffed into an 8 bunk compartment. 7 men and Karen. Tired and uncomfortable, we shook, rattled and rolled through the night hours. "Controlled dehydration" began the motto as she tried to avoid using the "facilities" as much as possible. Pulling into the Nagpur station, we fantasized about a shower, breakfast and a bed. This would be just the pause we needed before beginning ministry the following day.
Nagpur
Staggering off the train , we numbly counted the luggage and were greeted by Global Missionaries Sunny and his mother Shamala. We had just settled into the Jeep when it was revealed that we would have time for a quick bite before Karen was to do a public health talk to Mothers at the Leeds Convent School. The look on Karen's face was a disturbing mixture of "you must be kidding" and "how long do I have?" The Lord was so gracious and Karen was able to provide a practical talk on hand washing even in the midst of a slum. We were given the honour of presenting wards to the students at this school of over 90 children between the ages of 2 and a half and 4 years. Leeds school was started by the Bansods and provides training which allows children from the slums of Nagpur to have the head start needed in an educationally competitive society. It is one of the first steps out of poverty. God continues to bless this ministry and it is growing annually.
Following a good night's sleep, we headed off to a slum area again. The first glimpse was dilapidated shacks pieced together with old corn bags and every other type of scavenged material imaginable. Skinny cows grazed undisturbed by the roadside. Goats vied with stray dogs amidst the ankle deep garbage. As if mocking, the bright silhouette of a state of the art medical facility was the unsettling backdrop to the desperate human drama below.
In contrast to its surroundings the 2 room brick house where our clinic was to be held appeared sturdy and clean. A cheery tent for shade had been erected for the clinic. We did not realize that this family had come to Jesus and had built this house for their family of four but also to hold bible studies and worship services right there in the slum. Ours was the first such meeting to be held on the premises! Within moments, the modest room was transformed into a vision clinic with plastic chairs and makeshift tables appearing as if by magic. We prayed for God's blessing and began. Moments into the clinic, the power went out. Learning that it was scheduled to be off for five hours we determined to see as many people as possible for the 2 hour lifespan of the battery. The team of national helpers and translators coordinated by Sunny worked well together. They caught the vision quickly , learned what needed to be done and did it with excellence and joy. The power was restored long before expected and we continued to work past dark by the light of a few bulbs strung across the ceiling. Our hearts went out to the many with cataracts. Although they could access funded cataract surgery, few would do so. By 7 PM it was clear we could not see any more and so we carted our precious cargo back to the Jeep by flashlight. The potential for future clinics for vision, medical or public health was staggering and our minds whirled with the possibilities.
Eleven AM the following morning saw us heading to the train station to face a 21 hour sleeper car journey. A repeat of the previous trip had loomed in Karen's mind. Sunny's father Sudnyan committed to helping us upgrade our sleeper but as the train arrived, we loaded the bags into a 6 bunk compartment. Although this was a slight improvement our hearts sank as we both knew that we needed rest and a time to review, talk, plan and generally regroup. Suddenly, Sunny shouted from the doorway "Come - follow me!". The entire luggage was off loaded and dragged down the platform to the A1 car and reloaded into a two bunk cabin with a lockable door! It cost a little more but as the reality of the safety, privacy and comfort began to sink in, Karen's tears of gratitude made it more than a bargain. "He knows our frame that we are but dust". Once again the Lord had provided through the diligence and care of his saints.
Kolkata
After disembarking from the train at the Kolkata station, we waited for over an hour and were beginning to despair when our driver arrived commenting that the traffic had been unusually heavy. This was a massive understatement as the drive to the hotel in downtown Kolkata seemed to take forever. Some rest, a bit of shopping and dinner with our team leader, Greg, was the pause we needed before being joined by the medical team.
When the time came to leave, and as the team gathered with all our bags and equipment, one special face shone out. Hazel had arranged to join the team going to the Sunderban Islands! Everything was loaded into a modest bus and we took off through what surely must have been the windiest, dusty and narrow streets on the planet! Streets, as Don says, "with more bumps than an ant would find on coarse sandpaper" . At several points along the way, national team members were added to our number. On arrival at Gosaba port, the team stumbled out of the bus nauseated or intoxicated with Gravol (Dramamine for those south of the boarder). We had to resist thinking that these same roads must be travelled on the return trip. That concern was for another day.
The women sat in a shady roadside stand and drank chai tea and ate cookies as the men unloaded a cargo car full of bags and dragged them through town, across the cement pier and on to the boat. This became our primary mode of transportation over the next week. An hour and a half later we unloaded once again at our "Resort" for the week ahead.
We were a diverse group of professional and lay people from five different countries, speaking several different languages and representing every age from 10- 80 years. Coming together to serve effectively would only be possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. That evening we gathered together in an outdoor communion service to dedicate the outreach to the Lord. It was a foretaste of what heaven will be like - minus the challenges of translation!
The stop for the team was approximately one hour away by boat. Disembarking at varying tidal levels was always a bit hair raising. The clinic was accessed by a walk along a narrow levy followed by a decent of more feet than our ageing bones cared to acknowledge. Surviving this, a truck then ferried the team and all our gear along roads so narrow and banks so steep that we vied to sit in the enclosed back to avoid having to acknowledge the actual degree of peril we were facing. By this time it was just easier to sit back, close ones eyes and prepare to meet our Maker!
A national community contact had worked in partnership with the local sports club to erect a cloth building with a bamboo framework complete with areas sectioned off for each service. We scurried to set up before we were, once again treated to an elaborate welcome ceremony complete with flower garlands and special dancing. In response and as a reciprocating honour, the representative from Galcom and Ahoban radio presented community leaders with solar power radios tuned to the Ahoban radio station a ministry of Global Outreach Ministry Kolkata. Ahoban "welcomes" listeners to learn about Jesus and disciples them through correspondence courses. The upcoming clinics had been initiated through connection made through that very means! Partnering with missionaries and the local church to bring services to those is need is a powerful and effective tool of Evangelism.
What appeared at first to be a manageable number of people blossomed into a crush of souls desperate for medical and vision care. In contrast to what was expected, approx 80% of individuals presented with vision needs. We knew that we did not have enough team members to provide what was needed and we were limited by the type of care being offered. Working through the heat of the day with only a 15 minute break was a physical and psychological challenge. Discouragement threatened to overwhelm us as darkness began to fall and people continued to arrive. Knowing that the team was returning the following day, those remaining reluctantly left and the team scurried to make the journey back to the boat.
Are nights shorter in India or was it just our imagination? Morning came quickly and we arrived back to a larger crowd than the day before. Taxed to the limit, the vision department struggled to work in the sweltering heat. Despite the cool tropical cloth background there was not a breath of air moving between cloth partitions. To further compound the frustration, there was a corruption in the inventory program which made accessing the correct glasses impossible. We all struggled and prayed that despite these challenges God's love would be seen and felt in and through us. Towards the end of the day, one of our national translators, 10 year old Flora, had her eyes checked and the Lord provided a perfect prescription match in a pink frame that was just perfect. This is just one example of many such miracles that took place as individuals received lenses that brought a smile to their face and new hope to their lives. We were reminded of what we already knew: meticulous preparation of the inventory at every stage is imperative for effective, efficient ministry. There is no room for short cuts. It was abundantly clear that eye ministry cannot be rushed at any point. It was difficult to resist the pressure to see more people quickly. Each individual deserved our undivided attention at every point of care. That is something we are not willing to compromise.
The second island was only a 10 minute boat ride away. However, the challenge began as we arrived at low tide and were enticed to walk down a gangplank on to the muddy shore. Old, young, arthritic and spry began the decent and by God's grace arrived on "terra semi firma" only to realize that an ASCENT up a man made levy of "steps" hewn out of clay awaited us. Miraculously, without incident we scaled the Levy and walked 15 minutes into the village area where, at the local school, a marquis was set up and waiting. Mercifully, a breeze flowed freely through the wooden window shutters which brought smiles of relief to the team as we once again set up for the busy clinic ahead. After the opening ceremonies we flew into action this time with an additional nurse and translator who had been reassigned from elsewhere in the clinic. We were so grateful! One older man arrived with a pair of glasses unusable by a fully shattered right lens. As he moved from station to station in the vision process, our prayer for him as it was for each on was "Lord, please allow us to help this one." A prescription was found that was a good match and he could see! Yes, they were women's glasses with bright pink rhinestone inlaid frames but he didn't care. He could SEE! The joy on his face was a beautiful sight - fuel for our team to carry on. Thank you Lord! We gave thanks as we locked our equipment and inventory securely in the school building and returned to the boat. We learned that following the process and building on previous experience is paramount to a smooth functioning clinic.
The following day the process was repeated. One lady was assessed and a pair of glasses was dispensed. To say she was delighted was an understatement. Through a translator she told us that she was now able to return home and read her bible. This dear lady was a believer from a small Baptist church in the middle of the island. Hadn't we come to the Sunderban to show the Love of Jesus to the lost and encourage the body of Christ? This small victory brought great joy to all our hearts. Every small success for us was a huge success for the individual.
Departure day began early as we travelled back up the river and headed by bus towards Kolkata and Global Outreach Mission School and our final clinic for staff students and the surrounding community. A tour of the Ahoban offices and studio brought us full circle to the very desk where, just over a year before, Don had met with Pradyot the director of Ahoban Radio and the seed for this medical team had been sown. Vision ministry had not been a part of the plan at that time - at least in human eyes. God clearly had other ideas.
The partnership between national missionaries, the local church and Ahoban radio had resulted in medical and vision clinics which served over 1000 Indian people. More than 880 pairs of readers had been supplied and 51 pairs of used prescription glasses had been dispensed. More importantly, connections had been made between the communities and the national church that have vast potential to see many of India's unsaved come to know Jesus Christ. We are learning not to limit God and to be pliable as He directs.
Having experienced this outreach to India both as a couple and in the context of a team, we are sensing that God is opening doors of opportunity for further ministry in India and other parts of the world. We are both experiencing a growing passion to serve through the vision ministry to meet a significant physical need in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and catalyze partnerships between communities and the local church.
To this end, Karen has resigned her position in Public Health to work full time with Don as God leads. Thank you for your prayers.
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